Madelaine Petsch to star as lead in remake of 'The Strangers'

WASHINGTON: Lionsgate roped in ‘Riverdale’ fame, actor Madelaine Petsch as the main lead for their upcoming remake of ‘The Strangers’.

Not just this! Film-maker Renny Harlin is directing the remake of the 2008 cult horror film.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Gabe Basso and Froy Gutierrez will co-star in the movie set to become a trilogy of titles shot in Bratislava, Slovakia.

The reboot of the 2008 psychological thriller of the same name, directed by Bryan Bertino and starring Scott Speedman and Liv Tyler, would have Petsch playing a character who travels cross-country with her longtime partner (Gutierrez) in order to start a new life in the Pacific Northwest.

They are compelled to spend the night in a remote Airbnb after their car breaks down in Oregon, where three masked intruders torture them from twilight till daylight. Harlin directs Alan R. Cohen and Alan Freedland’s script. Lionsgate will handle global distribution.

“When setting out to remake The Strangers, we felt there was a bigger story to be told, which could be as powerful, chilling, and terrifying as the original and could really expand that world,” producer Courtney Solomon said in a statement given to The Hollywood Reporter.

Producers Solomon, Mark Canton, Christopher Milburn, Gary Raskin, Charlie Dombek, and Alastair Burlingham are behind the ‘The Strangers’ reboot.

Petsch recently got featured in the romantic comedy ‘About Fate’ from United Artists Releasing in addition to playing Cheryl Blossom on The CW’s ‘Riverdale’. Additional film credits include Jane, Sightless and Polaroid.

Harlin is a writer, director, and producer who has notably worked on films including ‘Class Reunion 3’, ‘The Misfits’, ‘Bodies at Rest’, ‘Legend of the Ancient Sword’, ‘Skiptrace’, and ‘The Legend of Hercules’. Among his other significant directing credits are ’12 Rounds’, ‘Cleaner’, ‘The Covenant’, ‘Exorcist: The Beginning’, ‘Mindhunters’, ‘Driven’, ‘Cutthroat Island’, ‘Cliffhanger’, ‘Die Hard 2’, and ‘A Nightmare on Elm’, ‘Street 4: The Dream Master’. The horror film ‘The Refuge’ and the action movie ‘The Bricklayer’ are among the multi-more hyphenate’s future projects.